Therefore while you are a Virgin, you shall conceive without sin, and bring forth a son.
11 He shall be great, because he shall reign from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth?
12 And he shall be called the Son of the Highest; for he who is born in a mean state on earth, reigns in an exalted one in heaven.
13 And the Lord shall give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
14 For he is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and his throne is forever and ever.
15 To this discourse of the angel the Virgin replied, not, as though she were unbelieving, but willing to know the manner of it.
16 She said, How can that be? For seeing, according to my vow, I have never known any man, how can I bear a child without the addition of a man's seed.
17 To this the angel replied and said, Think not, Mary, that you shall conceive in the ordinary way.
18 For, without lying with a man, while a Virgin, you shall conceive; while a Virgin, you shall bring forth; and while a Virgin shall give suck.
19 For the Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you, without any of the heats of lust.
20 So that which shall be born of you shall be only holy, because it only is conceived without sin, and being born, shall be called the Son of God.
21 Then Mary stretching forth her hands, and lifting her eyes to heaven, said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord! Let it be unto me according to thy word.
CHAP. VIII.
1 Joseph returns to Galilee, to marry the Virgin he had betrothed; 4 perceives she is with child, 5 is uneasy, 7 purposes to put her away privily, 8 is told by the angel of the Lord it is not the work of man but the Holy Ghost; 12 Marries her, but keeps chaste, 13 removes with her to Bethlehem, 15 where she brings forth Christ.
JOSEPH therefore went from Judaea to Galilee, with intention to marry the Virgin who was betrothed to him:
2 For it was now near three months since she was betrothed to him.
3 At length it plainly appeared she was with child, and it could not be hid from Joseph:
4 For going to the Virgin in a free manner, as one espoused, and talking familiarly with her, he perceived her to be with child,
5 And thereupon began to be uneasy and doubtful, not knowing what course it would be best to take;
6 For being a just man, he was not willing to expose her, nor defame her by the suspicion of being a harlot, since he was a pious man:
7 He purposed therefore privately to put an end to their agreement, and as privately to send her away.
8 But while he was meditating these things,8 behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, and said, Joseph, son of David, fear not;
9 Be not willing to entertain any suspicion of the Virgin's being guilty of fornication, or to think any thing amiss of her, neither be afraid to take her to wife:
10 For that which is begotten in her and now distresses your mind, is not the work of man, but the Holy Ghost.
11 For she of all women is that only Virgin who shall bring forth the Son of God, and you shall call his name Jesus, that is, Saviour: for he will save his people from their sins.
12 Joseph thereupon, according to the command of the angel, married the Virgin, and did not know her, but kept her in chastity.
13 And now the ninth month from her conception drew near, when Joseph took his wife and what other things were necessary to Bethlehem, the city from whence he came.
14 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth.
15 And she brought forth her first-born son, as the holy Evangelists have taught, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, lives and reigns to everlasting ages.
REFERENCES TO MARY'S GOSPEL
In the primitive ages there was a Gospel extant bearing this name, attributed to St. Matthew, and received as genuine and authentic by several of the ancient Christian sects. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church, who flourished in the fourth century, from whence the present translation is made. His contemporaries, Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, and Austin also mention a gospel under this title. The ancient copies differed from Jerome's, for from one of them the learned Faustus, a native of Britain, who became Bishop of Riez, in Provence, endeavoured to prove that Christ was not the Son of God till after his baptism; and that he was not of the house of David and tribe of Judah, because, according to the Gospel he cited, the Virgin herself was not of this tribe, but of the tribe of Levi; her father being a priest of the name of Joachim. It was likewise from this Gospel that the sect of the Collyridians established the worship and offering of manchet bread and cracknels, or fine wafers, as sacrificed to Mary, whom they imagined to have been born of a Virgin, as Christ is related in the Canonical Gospels to have been born of her. Epiphanius likewise cites a passage concerning the death of Zacharias, which is not in Jerome's copy, viz.: "That it was the occasion of the death of Zacharias in the temple, that when he had seen a vision, he, through surprise, was willing to disclose it, and his mouth was stopped. That which he saw was at the time of his offering incense, and it was a man standing in the form of an ass. When he was gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people, Woe unto you, whom do you worship? he who had appeared to him in the temple took away the use of his speech. Afterwards when he recovered it, and was able to speak, he declared this to the Jews; and they slew him. They add (viz. the Gnostics in this book), that on this very account the high-priest was appointed by their lawgiver (by God to Moses) to carry little bells, that whensoever he went into the temple to sacrifice he, whom they worshipped, hearing the noise of the bells, might have time enough to hide himself, and not be caught in that ugly shape and figure."—The principal part of this Gospel is contained in the Protevangelion of James which follows next in order.]
1 Sam. i. 6, 7, &c.
2 Acts, x, 4.
3 Gen. xvi, 2, &c., and xviii, 10, &c.
4 Gen. xxx, 1-22, and xli. 1, &c.
5 Judg. xiii. 2, and I Sam.6, &c.
6 Luke, i. 15.
7 Matth. i. 21.
8 Matt. i. 19.
